Pipe Tracker?

[mejoshee]

I feel like I stepped on a hornet's nest or something. I had the innocent thought that maybe having a sense of inventory would allow one to enjoy smoking more and thinking less :scratch:

I guess I was mistaken...  

Nah...no hornets nest...it does seems a little anal...but it is a hobby/vocation/love so do it your way!

I think mostly because I smoke in bursts of maybe 1-2 nights in a week, with 2 bowls or so, I have to wrack my brain now that I have more acquisitions. Plus the wife wants me to smoke even less, so that'll be even more remembering and brain-filling. :roll: I was thinking it'd be good to look back and say "I smoked this in that, it was a good/bad/ok combo. I rubbed/stuffed/Franck packed it and it burned hot/just right/poorly."

I'm trying to take data points right now and was hoping for feedback of what is available. That's really what this tracking is about for me. Is it anal retentive? Maybe to you, but I'm an engineer and I analyze lots of other things and making up a spreadsheet actually makes it less work for me to remember everything from the last time and allows me to just light up. Then I'm free to be completely relaxed and not neurotic. I want to be able to just pick a pipe and know that's roughly what tobacco I should/like to smoke in it. I'd rather be worried on the front end, so once I'm smoking, it's out of mind.

Generally, I've been happy with the results the last few months and I'm locking in on what shapes seem to make sense with the blend type, but there are those exceptions and I don't want to switch it back and forth thinking "I had this in here before. It should be ok." when really, the previous other times it didn't work out right after a month away from the last time having a bowl in said pipe.

Maybe I just need to concentrate on this entire process instead of other unrelated things? Or maybe I'm ok with a little hybrid of keeping notes in a digital format. Compared to the industry I'm in, I'm a luddite. Compared to the company culture we have, I'm too sophisticated and green; too ready to embrace digital technology. Seems I can't even find a niche here.

 

[Draagha]

Maybe I just need to concentrate on this entire process instead of other unrelated things? Or maybe I'm ok with a little hybrid of keeping notes in a digital format. Compared to the industry I'm in, I'm a luddite. Compared to the company culture we have, I'm too sophisticated and green; too ready to embrace digital technology. Seems I can't even find a niche here.

Nonsense, that's what makes this community great is that we all approach the same hobby in our own beautiful and diverse ways. I'm a neanderthal with my pipe loading by most people standards, but it WORKS for me. If that's how you do it to make sure you relax every time, then gawtdarnded, enjoy yourself brother. You always have a niche here with us my friend.

 

[Brewdude]

I feel like I stepped on a hornet's nest or something. I had the innocent thought that maybe having a sense of inventory would allow one to enjoy smoking more and thinking less :scratch:

I guess I was mistaken...  

Nah...no hornets nest...it does seems a little anal...but it is a hobby/vocation/love so do it your way!

I think mostly because I smoke in bursts of maybe 1-2 nights in a week, with 2 bowls or so, I have to wrack my brain now that I have more acquisitions. Plus the wife wants me to smoke even less, so that'll be even more remembering and brain-filling. :roll: I was thinking it'd be good to look back and say "I smoked this in that, it was a good/bad/ok combo. I rubbed/stuffed/Franck packed it and it burned hot/just right/poorly."

I'm trying to take data points right now and was hoping for feedback of what is available. That's really what this tracking is about for me. Is it anal retentive? Maybe to you, but I'm an engineer and I analyze lots of other things and making up a spreadsheet actually makes it less work for me to remember everything from the last time and allows me to just light up. Then I'm free to be completely relaxed and not neurotic. I want to be able to just pick a pipe and know that's roughly what tobacco I should/like to smoke in it. I'd rather be worried on the front end, so once I'm smoking, it's out of mind.

Generally, I've been happy with the results the last few months and I'm locking in on what shapes seem to make sense with the blend type, but there are those exceptions and I don't want to switch it back and forth thinking "I had this in here before. It should be ok." when really, the previous other times it didn't work out right after a month away from the last time having a bowl in said pipe.

Maybe I just need to concentrate on this entire process instead of other unrelated things? Or maybe I'm ok with a little hybrid of keeping notes in a digital format. Compared to the industry I'm in, I'm a luddite. Compared to the company culture we have, I'm too sophisticated and green; too ready to embrace digital technology. Seems I can't even find a niche here.

Don't be so hard on yourself. We all do things different ways and what works for you might not necessarily work best for me or the other guy, but you've got to determine how best to go forward in your quest.

Hey, if making up spreadsheets are your thing and they benefit you, by all means go for it.

And each and everyone who is who posts here on BoB has a niche, albeit their own one. What binds us together is the respect we have for each other, no matter if we agree or not.

It's your journey. Enjoy it.


Cheers,

RR

 

[pepesdad1]

Hey, if engineering your process makes you happy...go for it.  "Seems I can't even find a niche here.  "  Sure you can and have...don't be so hard on yourself...let us do that for you.

Really, us old farts have done a lifetime of living...in some cases more than a lifetime...so we do things a lot simpler...just because we have earned that right...through blood, sweat and plenty of tears.  But, please feel free to do it your way...and let us know, cause we aren't too old to learn something new.

 

[monbla256]

Hey, if engineering your process makes you happy...go for it.  "Seems I can't even find a niche here.  "  Sure you can and have...don't be so hard on yourself...let us do that for you.

Really, us old farts have done a lifetime of living...in some cases more than a lifetime...so we do things a lot simpler...just because we have earned that right...through blood, sweat and plenty of tears.  But, please feel free to do it your way...and let us know, cause we aren't too old to learn something new.

I did not mean to rain on your parade earlier, but THIS is what many of us have arrived at with this "smoking a pipe" thing . If going digital so to speak enhances your enjoyment, then do it. It's just WAAAAAAY to much for me :twisted: I've over 90 pipes now and forgotten many blends I've smoked over the years but I can tell you where & when I bought each pipe I own and I've never committed ANY of this info to paper or otherwise. Just use the little grey cells you were given. They still are BETTER than any 'puter. :twisted: 

 

[Dutch]

mejoshee, here is the system I have been using, and it seems to work well for me. I have around 175 pipes in my collection, and sometimes when I finish a tin, I will let a particular pipe dedicated to that blend rest for an extended period of time, until I open another tin of that particular blend. I purchased this label maker from Walmart to label my mason jars, when jarring tobacco for my cellar. I found that I can make a label, and simply slide the label down inside my pipe bowl. Once there, I never forget which blend I have dedicated to that particular pipe.

 

[Richard Burley]

It ain't my style, but I like the idea of some being this dedicated to the hobby. In my case, it would be pointless, because my tastes change all the time. Right now I'm enjoying a bowl of PA, not one of my regulars. Can't believe how mild and relaxing its one-dimensional taste is. Once I hated Vapers; now I'm an Escudo freak--or was, if indeed they have changed the recipe. As for dedicating a pipe to one tobacco or type of tobacco, I don't think I'll bother. I once dedicated a new Ser Jacopo to nothing but Haddo's Delight. A hundred bowls later, I discovered other pipes did a better job with the blend, and the Ser Jac was better with other things. But I've never claimed to be that discerning in matters of taste; a knowledgeable review of a tobacco written by me ain't gonna happen. I'm not so sure I can even tell the difference between burley and virginia, so I might as well be a beginner and deserve catapulting from these pages. For those of more orderly and discerning abilities, more power to them and their means.

(Edit: Clarification and face-saving: Of course I can tell the difference between Virginia and burley. One tastes like dried grass and the other tastes like tobacco. There. LOL)

 

[Anonymous]

I feel like I stepped on a hornet's nest or something. I had the innocent thought that maybe having a sense of inventory would allow one to enjoy smoking more and thinking less :scratch:

I guess I was mistaken...  

Nahh, everybody comes up with their own right way. That individualism at its best. For some it is the process as much as the smoke; then the next guy reverses the order.

Whatever the way, I respect the other guys choice -- but do reserve the right to make fun of it.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Pipe smoking is NOT a DIGITAL endeavor !! This sort of thing is WAY TO OCD !! Just buy tobacco, pipes and sit back and learn to ENJOY WITHOUT the 21st century rear it's ugly head !!  UH! :twisted:  :twisted:  :twisted: 

                   ^^^^  What the learned gentleman said.^^^^   :twisted:  

Is there such a site/app/organizational system/paradigm to keep track of pipes dedicated to which types of tobacco...

I call it familiarity & preference.  I feel like smoking a certain blend and it'll suggest a pipe (or two, or three, or.. :lol: ).  Conveniently enough, it works in the other direction as well - pick a pipe and be reminded of the blends that really sing in that particular chunk o' briar.  

It takes a bit of patience and a minimum of concentration to get there, but that's pipe smoking in a nutshell.   :lol: 
As ever, it's the journey, not the destination IMHO.



P.S.  shame these over-sized pics take up two screen widths - read half the screen then scroll over to the other half.  Who would've imagined that resizing pics to something like 650 or 700 pixels would be so extra-ordinary?   :no:

 

[Hawker]

Mejo I found that simple leather pipe plugs work great for thoses pipes not in the regular rotation that might be forgotten about.
I mark on the underside of the plug what tobacco i smoke in that particular pipe, PDT, CC Etc.
They also help keep dust out of the pipes that might be left in racks for months at a time and ashes or baccy from falling out of previously loaded or half smoked bowls.

 

[somedumbjerk]

i've been using a little wellspring notebook: this particular one and started taking notes. i debated about doing some spreadsheet dealy as well. a program would be pretty cool where you could have a picture of each of your pipes, and record data in it. have a gallery of your pipes and be able to click it for a log or something. these days i just smoke whatever pipe i feel like with whatever tobacco i feel like in it. i mainly smoke VA's so it isn't a big issue. but i do have some really great smokes and sometimes don't remember them. i do try and smoke the same blend a few times in a row if the first combo was particularly good, though. i've been in a cob and meer phase so it's not as big of a deal i think.

 

[skaukatt]

I don't think anyone has mentioned it in this thread but I use P&T Foundations, not so much for what you are looking for it to do but, it will do that as well, but not being very excel savvy, I find that this software is perfect for cataloging my entire collection of pipes, tobacco and accessories. It is full featured and very flexible and customizable.

If you subscribe to the magazine (Pipes & Tobacco Magazine) then the software is free. Prior to about a year or two ago, it used to be an additional $25. I have been using it for years and highly recommend it.

Check it out:

http://pipesandtobaccosmagazine.com/community/

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I like the old farts flippin' their lids over what the kiddies are doing digitally with their briar and tobacco lately.   Cracked me up today.  :lol:

On the other hand, "think less, smoke more?"   Josh, dude, we live in a world of convenience and non-thinking as it is.   As long as you don't have 175 pipes ala Dutch, if you can't keep track of things yourself...:scratch:...

...in proper spirit to hopefully fan the old-man-anti-digital flames, yeah, I kept notes on tobacco and spreadsheets on how pipes were smoking for me.  It did me a LOT of good.  It wasn't to remember anything precisely, but to collect data.   I was, like most newbies, having problems getting a few tobaccos nailed down and some issues getting to know a few pipes.   Notes are a good idea--provided you don't rely exclusively on them.  Tastes change.   So does smoking ability.  Notes are training wheels.   As the tobacco gets tried, the pipes get smoked, you keep reaching for one and the other more frequently--quite naturally.  Why?   Because you either figured it out or you didn't. Thinking very much required.

Do we need an "iPhone app?"  Gimme a break.  What's next, taking pictures of the pipe so the program can identify which pipe, and provide picture of the right tobacco?   Want your phone to run over and pack the bowl and light it for ya too?  :lol:   Maybe automaticlally update the selections on Facebook?  We're going to be the pipe equivalents of the shake-drinking inhabitants of the inter-stellar cruise ship on Wall-E before too much longer.   :lol:

Okay, going too far.   What'ev.   Still hilarious.   Don't care.   Old coot in training, here.  

8)

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

In the beginning of pipe smoking IMO there are far too many things to learn, at once, and ascribing causality to any two variables thus becomes, at least, tricky. You have to identify good tobacco, good tobacco that you like, pack it correctly and smoke it correctly. If you like, keep everything the same and manipulate one variable; manipulate it ABAB: do A, stop, do B, stop, do A again, stop, do B again, stop. Does A produce the same result twice?; does B?

All this takes time and a lot of testing. Try to enjoy it.

 

[cigrmaster]

mejoshee, Most guys I know have spread sheets to keep track of their stuff. I think you should do whatever you think will work best and not worry too much what other people think.

I have a system that works for me. I am like Rain Man when it comes to remembering certain things like pipes and tobacco. I can remember what I paid for a pipe, where I bought it, from 13 years ago. I dedicate pipes to certain blends and just put it my head. Now granted I only have 32 pipes and only 27 different blends so keeping track is not that tough. I am totally incompetent when it comes to working with Excel so I just write stuff down when I have to. For example, my cellar of approximately 225 pounds is written on a piece of paper that I keep in my might stand, when I get new tobacco in, I just add it to the list. I don't need a list for my pipes because I remember when I bought it, from who and what I paid. When it is time to smoke a bowl, I picture in my head what blend goes with what pipe and smoke away.

I have a buddy who uses tobacco cellar and he took the time to list over 400 pounds of tobacco on it. I tried using it and quit after about 5 pounds of tins, it started giving me a headache. There is no right or wrong way to do things, only what works for you.

 

[Brewdude]

mejoshee, Most guys I know have spread sheets to keep track of their stuff. I think you should do whatever you think will work best and not worry too much what other people think.

I have a system that works for me. I am like Rain Man when it comes to remembering certain things like pipes and tobacco. I can remember what I paid for a pipe, where I bought it, from 13 years ago. I dedicate pipes to certain blends and just put it my head. Now granted I only have 32 pipes and only 27 different blends so keeping track is not that tough. I am totally incompetent when it comes to working with Excel so I just write stuff down when I have to. For example, my cellar of approximately 225 pounds is written on a piece of paper that I keep in my might stand, when I get new tobacco in, I just add it to the list. I don't need a list for my pipes because I remember when I bought it, from who and what I paid. When it is time to smoke a bowl, I picture in my head what blend goes with what pipe and smoke away.

I have a buddy who uses tobacco cellar and he took the time to list over 400 pounds of tobacco on it. I tried using it and quit after about 5 pounds of tins, it started giving me a headache. There is no right or wrong way to do things, only what works for you.

He says "only".....


 



Cheers,

RR

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I wonder how Tilt (J. Patton) keeps track of his hundreds of cobs... :scratch:

:lol:

8)

 

[mejoshee]

I took most of the advice here and just started trying things.  No note taking thus far; I am more interested in enjoying the smoke than thinking at the present time.

I know, you are rolling your eyes so hard right now. "How can he turn off his brain like that?" Well, I think and rethink to the point of overthinking everything else for my job and in most other parts of my life, so pipe smoking is something I want to be able to have a little bit of a sanctuary. I do analyze later on, after the smoke, so my brain isn't completely off.

I did find myself still checking back here on Sunday night on the "What are you smoking" thread to see what I had good reactions to and try to stick to the same style of tobacco for the pipes I wanted to smoke again. But I'm working through a sampling from Fight'n Hamsters, so thought I'd break out of the mold and try some blends I probably wouldn't've had on my radar otherwise.

*I can still see my preferences are for quality VA, but I did get a few pleasant surprises with the Oriental options. So far, had all the JFH Middle Earth blends and didn't dislike any. 3 Friars is no bueno, though. I assume Old Joe Krantz will be a similar reaction. Most of the advice here is concerned with doing what works, so I'll get over this initial "briar whoring" stage and eventually settle/dedicate to some more limited range of things.

PS I don't own an iPhone. Was just thinking there was a site/cloud app to put the thoughts. Hope you guys don't see me as some punk/hipster kid with a trending twitter account and 3 million Facebook friends. I'm really just an old soul trying to make do in the digital age just shy of falling behind the curve. I do know how to use Excel, but years of working a tech job requires it. But really, I'd rather work with my hands...

 

[Kyle Weiss]

1). Image is B.S... As is anti-image. Do what you like, do it well, do it with mindfulness and f**k everyone else.

2). Thinking is all about balance (like life). Too much or too little of anything equates similar results, and often dissatisfaction. Finding the right ratios in anything is tricky.

3). Enjoy your pipes and tobacco to the best of your ability. Always.

8)